FOUR

I knew General Cracken’s reasons for refusing to give me the information I wanted were good and sound, and I would have resisted my request the same as he had, were I in his position. That sort of cold logic melts away, however, in the face of the sort of anger and pain I was feeling. If I had just made a decision and not tried to delay things, Mirax wouldn’t be missing. I’d abrogated my responsibility once and I damned well wasn’t going to fail her a second time.

My threat to petition the New Republic’s ruling council wasn’t an idle one, but Cracken knew he had little to fear from it. In theory, any citizen of the New Republic could communicate with a senator and, if their case warranted it, might even get an audience with the Council. In my case I could go more directly to Doman Beruss, the Corellian Councilor, and seek an audience that way. I was fairly certain the Council would let me speak to it, but that still put me far from getting what I needed from General Cracken.

Even before going to the Council, I needed to enlist support of various members so I had a chance of getting my request approved. In reality I knew it would be fairly easy for my request to be dismissed in the name of security, but if a couple of Council members backed me, I might win the day anyway.

To enlist that sort of support, however, I needed to ask friends for favors. My first stop in that quest—at least my first stop after returning home and changing into my service uniform—was the office of General Wedge Antilles. I did not call ahead and Wedge’s executive assistant, prim and cold though she was, seemed to accept my dropping in as a matter of course.

The nature of Wedge’s office revealed a lot about the man I had come to know and trust over the years. The whole of the wall behind his desk had been formed of transparisteel, providing the illusion that he worked on a balcony. It gave him a great view of Coruscant and, more importantly, a lot of sky. The desk he had been given was big enough to land an X-wing on, and Wedge kept it clear enough so he could land an X-wing there. Off to the left side of the room Wedge had a couch, a low table, and some battered chairs that would have looked more at home in some squadron debriefing lounge.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you, General.”

Wedge gave me a big smile that pulsed some warmth back into me. “Corran, it’s good to see you. Been too long.”

I gave him a salute, then shook his hand. “It has, General, far too long.”

He frowned and waved me to a couch off away from his desk. He came around from behind the desk and took a chair facing me, leaving the low table between us. I noticed it matched the one I’d tripped over in my bedroom and my shin throbbed sympathetically. A scattering of datacards from military historical reviews and architectural publications littered the table.

Wedge regarded me carefully as he sat. “You needn’t be so formal, Corran.”

“Sorry, Wedge.” I forced a smile onto my face. “In the squadron we understood command moving you into fleet ops while the reborn Emperor threatened the New Republic, and even during the last four months you’ve been flying around pulling debris out of low orbits so it wouldn’t crash down and kill more folks here. Then when you took this ground assignment instead of coming back, well, some of us wondered if you hadn’t gotten used to the sound of General Antilles.”

He smiled in that easy, open way he had about him, with his brown eyes bright. “Nothing I’d like better than to be back with the squadron, but, you know, I’ve spent the last eleven years of my life blowing things apart. When I returned to Coruscant and I saw all that had been destroyed here, and all the folks left homeless—like you and Mirax—I don’t know, something in me wanted a change.”

Wedge leaned forward in his chair and one lock of brown hair swung down onto his forehead. He picked up one of the architectural journal datacards. “Way back when, when I lived on the Gus Treta station with my parents, I used to dream about having a home on the ground and building incredible buildings. The Rebellion and all intervened and I’d pretty much forgotten that dream, but flying over the destruction here rekindled it. I don’t know if I’ll stick with it, but for now it’s something I want to do.”

Part of me wanted to protest and convince him to rejoin the squadron, but he just sounded so happy that I couldn’t begrudge him his change of jobs. “You know we’ll be happy to have you with us again.”

“Thanks.” Wedge nodded and sat back in his chair. “So, what brings you here? Just visiting?”

I swallowed hard. “Not exactly. I need a favor. A big favor.”

His reply came a bit more gravely than before. “What is it, Corran?”

“Mirax is missing and I need to find her. General Cracken knows where she was last reported to be—she was doing a job for him at the time—and he won’t tell me where that was.”

Wedge frowned. “He doesn’t want you running off and jeopardizing her life and his operation.”

“I know, but she’s in trouble and I need to help her. I want to know if you would be willing to speak to Councilor Organa Solo and see if she would help me petition the Council to order Cracken to give me that information.” I tried to make my request sound reasonable, but even as I heard the words, I knew it was insane. Even if Wedge helped, the Council could never give me what I wanted. I was way out of bounds and I knew it, but I had no other choice.

Before Wedge could answer, a bright-eyed man swung in through the office doorway. He was looking back at Wedge’s assistant and said, “It will just take a second, and then I’ll be out again.” He looked over at Wedge with a rakehell grin as wide as a Hutt and full of trouble on his face. “Wedge, want to make a run with me to Kessel?”

“Kessel? That’s the last place I’d think you’d want to go.” Wedge blinked away his surprise. “Thanks for the invitation, Han, but I’ve got duties here.”

“What duties? Construction droids run themselves. You can head out with me and check on folks you left there, like that Fliry Vorru.” Han Solo looked past Wedge and acknowledged me with a quick nod. “Sorry to interrupt.”

Wedge looked from him back to me, then smiled. “Have you two not met?”

I shook my head. “I know General Solo by reputation, certainly.”

Han Solo’s smile remained in place. “No longer a general, just a civilian, thanks.”

Wedge smiled slyly. “I don’t think that’s the whole of the reputation he means, Han. This is Corran Horn. He used to be with CorSec.”

Han extended a hand to me. “Then I know you by reputation, too. And your father.”

“My father?”

Corellia’s most notorious smuggler nodded. “He was on my trail once. Had to take an appointment to the Imperial Naval Academy to escape him.”

Han Solo had a hint of smugness in his voice that I’d long associated with smugglers and criminals boasting of their narrow escapes, and I wanted to hate him for it. I knew he’d trafficked in spice for a Hutt and that, too, was cause for me to think him the dregs of the universe. Even the fact that Corellians were often seen as flashy scofflaws in the rest of the galaxy, largely because of the fame of his exploits, was more than enough to have earned him my enmity forever.

But there was something in his eyes and the firmness of his grip that hinted at the honorable spirit at his core. It would have been easy to deride him as nothing more than a mercenary who had found his fortune in Princess Leia, but that denied the sheer pain he’d suffered and the effort he’d put into fighting against the Empire. Something in the man struggled against taking the easy way out, against abandoning friends and abandoning hopeless causes. Perhaps it was a will to succeed or a fear of failure, both or even more, but it caused me to realize that a catalog of his crimes and deeds could not sum this man up.

“I am pleased to meet you, sir.”

“You were CorSec, I’m supposed to call you sir.” He shrugged. “But formality has never been my strong suit.”

Wedge waved Han to a chair, but the man remained standing. “Corran was just asking me to speak to your wife on a very important matter. Do you remember Booster Terrik?”

Han’s face brightened. “Booster? Hard to forget him. He was a legend among smugglers before Corellia cooled into a ball. Didn’t your father send Booster to Kessel?”

I nodded. “Five years.”

Han winced. “That’s a long time in the mines.”

Wedge nodded. “Corran married Booster’s daughter, Mirax.”

“Really! Someone who finally has in-laws that are as interesting as mine.” Han looked at me. “What did you want Wedge to speak to Leia about?”

“Mirax is missing. I want to go after her, but Airen Cracken won’t tell me where she was when she vanished.” I shrugged. “I was hoping the Council could order him to give me that information.”

“Leia might be able to convince them to do that, but I’d not be betting a lot on it, kid.” The smuggler’s brown eyes hardened. “As sympathetic as Leia might be to your cause, the fact is that your request would be pretty low on the New Republic’s list of priorities. And, if you think about it the way you would have thought about it when with CorSec, there’s no way you’d have turned that sort of information over to the spouse of an undercover officer.”

I glanced down at the floor. “I know.”

“However,” he said, letting a lighter tone bleed into his words, “New Republic Intelligence isn’t the only place you can get information about Mirax. She still flying the Pulsar Skate?”

My head came up. “Yes, sir.”

“Before I head out for Kessel—Leia has me working as a liaison to the inmates since I’ve been in the area before—I’ll put out some feelers and see if the Skate has been spotted in any of the usual places. Might pop up a lead for you.” Han’s eyes narrowed in my direction. “But that’s only if you get over this sir thing.”

I smiled in spite of myself. “Thank you, Han. And I’m Corran, despite having been in CorSec.”

Han smiled. “The galaxy is a big place, so your search won’t be easy, but I don’t expect that matters much to you.”

“It doesn’t.”

“May the Force be with you, then.” He glanced at Wedge. “You certain you don’t want to come along to Kessel?”

“Next time, Han, but not right now.” Wedge gave him a smile. “The last time I was there—Rogue Squadron was there—Moruth Doole didn’t really take a fancy to me. Do yourself a favor and don’t mention me to him.”

“I copy. When I get back, I’ll let you know if I’ve learned anything, Corran.” The pirate tossed us both an easy salute. “Good flying to both of you.”

Wedge and I stared after him as he spun and disappeared through the doorway. I laughed. “He has something of a presence, doesn’t he?”

Wedge nodded. “Kind of hard to forget.”

“Explains the bounties on his head.” I felt my smile slowly receding. “Wedge, one thing, I, ah, don’t know if you’re planning to see Iella now that you’re dirtdown, but if you do, don’t ask her about Mirax. She’s working for Cracken still, and might have information, but I don’t want her to get into trouble giving it to me.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.” Wedge frowned slightly. “I really should link up with her, shouldn’t I?”

I smiled. “You two seemed to get along famously. I pretty much thought you’d have gotten fairly serious by this time.”

“I would have, too.” He shrugged uneasily. “I had intended to start dating her before her husband showed up, then after his death and Thyferra and Wraith Squadron and Thrawn …”

“I know, a lot of things have happened to make things tough. Can’t beat a homeworld girl, though, for having someone who can share the universe with you.”

“You and Mirax are certainly proving that.” Wedge looked away a little wistfully. “I really should call her and give things another chance. Maybe once I get this reconstruction going well I can take the time.”

“As Han said, it’s a pretty big galaxy, but I don’t think you’ll find anyone in it better for you than she is.” I forced an awkward laugh. “Big galaxy and I’m having to look for my wife, while the perfect match for you is so close. Life is never easy, is it?”

“No, that’s true.” Wedge’s eyes brightened and a smile began to blossom on his face. “However, we might have an edge in helping you solve your problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luke’s here, on Coruscant. You should talk to him.” Wedge nodded solemnly. “Finding Mirax may be akin to finding a quark in a mole of deuterium, but if that’s your task, having a Jedi help you do it is not a bad way to go at all.”